Akisame Kōetsuji
Kōetsuji Akisame is a philosophical Jujitsu master, and one of the senior memebers of Ryonzanpoku. He was also the the first master willing to train Kenichi (though he is the least considerate to Kenichi's feelings). Personality Despite having a very kind and understanding appearance, Akisame is noted to be the most strict of all the teachers at Ryozanpaku. Because of the grueling training Akisame force on Kenichi, in the manga Kenichi often runs home to him in times of problems screaming "DORAEMON!" (coincidentally while Akisame is eating dorayaki) in a parody of the recurring gag from the manga of the same name. According to Kenichi, he is capable of unspeakable brutality. While normally a composed and collected individual, he has at time shown anger as he did after learning about Ogata's treatment of his disciple. According to Ma Kensei, whenever Akisame says "Eh, I don't want to", his stubborness becomes unrivaled to the point where no amount of compensation can change his mind, according a flashback, Akisame refused all manners of payment for a statue he crafted offered by a rich country leader (much to Miu's distress) and even sent the assassins and professional thieves hired to steal the statue back beaten up with an "Eh, I don't want to" note. Kōetsuji believes that masters should not interfere with their disciples' battles, and often has to convince Sakaki not to pulverize those who beat up Kenichi. However, like all the other masters at the dojo, he worries about Kenichi as well. He later believes that Kenichi will climb the ladder of a true martial artist. He seems to hold some kind of grudge against Takeda's master James Shiba as seen when James often insults Akisame's mustache. The one thing Akisame cannot stand is green peppers, as he reacts with an expression of distaste when Kensei threatened to cook only green peppers and beef, and picks out green pepper after green pepper out of Kensei's Qing Jiao Rou, depositing them in Apachai's bowl. He also has a habit of scratching his mustache after he lies. Appearance Akisame is a man of above-average height and messy brown hair. He is almost constantly seen in his jujitsu uniform. Despite his seemingly small physique, he has actually developed his muscles' built and definition to perfection. He takes most pride in his small and well-groomed mustache. A unique trait in his appearance is the dull and nearly colorless pupils of his eyes. History In his younger days, Akisame traveled the world to further the development of his unique Jijitsu style, taking in aspects and inspiration from other styles he studied. He later met and became friends of Miu's father, Saiga. During one of his journeys, he met the child and not-yet-named Shigure who was raised deep in the mountains along with her father, Hachirobe Kosaka, who was a great master at both crafting and wielding weapons. Because her father was suffering from a terminal illness, he requested Akisame to take his life away in a duel so that he could die a warrior's death. Akisame initially refused, but eventually had to throw him off a cliff after a forced confrontation. Before dying, Hachirobe admitted he did not really want to die in battle, but was trying to be a bad example so his daughter would avoid repeating his mistakes. Akisame then gave Shigure her name and took her to be raised by Akisame's old friend, the late master of the Kōsaka-style. After the old man passed away, Akisame brought Shigure into Ryōzanpaku. Plot Outline After the DofD tournament, Akisame, Sakaki, and Kenichi go on a job as bodyguards for the Congress woman of Russia. It turns out that Alexander Gaidar was after the Congress woman for her information on Yami. Akisame goes after him Kenichi as Sakaki was fighting two Yami masters. Akisame and Kenichi run into Boris Ivanov, who could only hold Akisame off for just over 1 second. Kenichi holds off Boris and his group while Akisame fights Alexander. Both masters seemed to be evenly matched since both use similar styles relying on grapples and throws, though Alexander's SAMBO has greater offensive power than Akisame's Jujutsu. However, Akisame has far more experience than Alexander as well as a better body build. Akisame gives Kenichi a signal to get the Congress woman while he holds Alexander off, though he receives a blow as a result off doing this. They both do their job and save her thanks to the last minute arrival of Sakaki. Both Alexander and Boris take their leave, failing their mission. Akisame and Sakaki go towards Russia's main government base. Akisame takes the mission on alone and knocks out all the guards without arousing attention. Both he and Alexander once again begin where they left off. Akisame initially appeared to have the upper hand, but has the situation turned against him when Alexander utilizes an imitation of his ultimate technique. This forced Akisame to do the same and both are unable to see each other. Akisame is caught by Alexander, who sees one of his conscious soldiers still awake watching the battle and looks at the reflection formed by his eyes to see Akisame. However, Akisame, who has been used to being thrown countless times, counters Alexander's attack by using his ki to manipulate Alexander into various throws. When Alexander uses his Forward March of Death, Akisame utilizes a grapple that knocks Alexander out for 2 seconds, prompting Alexander to view it as a loss and to allow himself to be taken to Big Lock. Relationships Akisame, while being a strict master, is none-the-less a very kind and understanding person who went as far as to say that Kenichi reminded him of himself at that age. He is noted to be one of the more disciplined of the masters and is usually a reliable voice of reason in the dojo. He also gets along with all of the other masters in the dojo and considers them all good friends. With that in mind, he seems to have a rivalry with both Ma and Sakaki in a variety of areas and seems to get along well with the good-natured Apachai, calling him "Apachai-Kun." Skills and Abilities Akisame has repeatedly shown himself a remarkably skilled man. While a specialist in defensive methods of battle, Akisame is an extremely powerful man who should the need, can easily cause great harm to his opponent. He once accidently dislocated a man's shoulder, claiming it to have been an unwanted habit. The true exent of Akisame's skill is yet to be seen, yet in each confrontation with Yami member Alexander, he has maintained a calm and detatched demeanor, able to fight on equal ground with him while spliting his attention or completely overwhelming Alexander once getting serious. Renaissance Man: Unlike the other masters of Ryōzanpaku, Akisame is a highly skilled and accomplished man in a variety of areas outside of martial arts. He is an expert in many fields of study including literature, philosophy, psychology, and sociology, history, art history, anthropology, linguistics, and music. He is a famous and legendary artisan, who has mastered all forms of fine art, including calligraphy, painting, pottery, and sculpting. He is also a remarkable engineer and doctor, often using these talents to help the dojo get by or to further Kenichi's training. Akisame is also fluent in many languages, including Russian and English. Medical Master: His medical skills are such that he is renowned for being able to heal seemingly any injury, new or old, even to the point of saving lives most doctors would deem lost causes. He also owns an orthopedic clinic, and can reset and fix bones with ease. It is from his immense skill and knowledge of medicine and anatomy that he developed his unique physical conditioning methods. Keen Intellect: Akisame has frightening powers of perception that allow him to seemingly know everything that is going on to every last detail even if he isn't there. He even knows when people are talking about him. He also has very good insight on people, often knowing if they are troubled or hiding something; he sometimes even knows what a person is thinking, which scares Kenichi. With keen observation, Akisame is also a quick study, able to quickly replicate Nijima's computer skills. He is a master of strategy games, having never lost a game of Othello, Shōgi, and Go. In battle, he is also an incredible strategist and tactician, able to quickly analyze the situation at hand, consider past details, and discern an opponent's battle tactics and techniques. After doing this he can quickly think several moves ahead of his opponent and formulate the best counter strategy. Akisame is very resourceful, able to use a wide array of unorthodox tactics to accomplish his goal, most commonly seen from his training methods for himself and Kenichi. For example, during his fight at Okinawa with one of Yami's weapon masters, he got in range of the enemy's long reach with his speed, applied countermeasures to avoid being harmed (such as hanging onto a chandelier using his toes), and forced his opponent's armor to vibrate, knocking him out. Immense Physical Prowess and Speed: As a man who puts strong emphasis on physical conditioning, Akisame has trained himself to the absolute peak of human physical potential. This has come from 20 years of in depth research and strict training. Transforming all his muscle into pink tissue, Akisame has reached the perfect balance between speed and stamina, along with strength and durability. Akisame is also quite fast, being able to save a young Shigure from a falling boulder across a long distance, with Shigure's father remarking that he was even faster than himself. His speed allows him to quickly write Russian symbols legibly even when driving a motorcycle at high speeds. He has been noted as having inhuman strength for his size, seen from being able to easily overpower a man twice his size and built and using a single finger to push a bent street pole back into place. Sakaki, who is noted to have immense physical strength, has stated that he rates Akisame's strength at a high level and that in a real fight, one of them would definitely die. Techniques Sekijin Jijousan (Mountain of Self Pity): Koetsuji ties numerous opponents up in pairs and stacks them into a pile. Koetsuji Yanagihayurashi: A special movement technique where he seemingly fades away. This technique can even baffle Master class fighters. Koetsuji Kawasu Hineri: An evasive technique consisting of twisting the entire body. Forced Into an Agonizing Position, Destruction Hell: 'A combination of a throw, kick and joint lock that literally scrambles an opponent's body. Despite the end result, the attack does not kill the victim (according to Akisame, anyway). Although classified as a move that immobilizes without killing, Kenichi claims it would be more merciful to let them die. hsdk_v11_ch93_k_h_illuminati.kenichi_11_080.jpg|Forced Into an Agonizing Position Destruction Hell hsdk_v11_ch93_k_h_illuminati.jpg|After Effect 'Koetsuji Mugen Seiseikaki: Used against Alexander Gaidar, The fist of Destruction, this is a really fast attack that is used as a counter-measure to being grabbed in the wrist, using this grab as a way to throw the enemy up and down so fast that, even when the opponent instinctively lets go afterwards, they would have already been thrown multiple times. Shin Kokyuu Nage: Using the enemy's improved reflexes and his ki, Koetsuji feigns attacks in a way that the enemy masters simply dodge and end up throwing themselves forcefully to the ground. It's only used against masters, as Koetsuji remarked. Battle Log Battles past vs Hachirobe Kosaka (won, though Hachirobe aimed to lose) vs Yami subordinates (won) vs probably James Shiba (unknown) 'Battles present' vs Wrestling Boss (won) vs Alexander Gaider round 1 (undecided) vs Alexander Gaider round 2 (won) vs unnamed rapierswordsman (won) vs Spear of the East (won) Category:History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi character Category:Ryōzanpaku Category:Master Category:Katsujinken